Jesus is not just written about in the Bible. Early secular writings provide various perspectives on Christ and Christianity: ## 1. Thallus: (52 A.D.) Thallus was an early historian whose works are now lost, but fragments survive through later writers like Julius Africanus. He wrote around the mid-1st century, and is one of the earliest secular references to the events surrounding Jesus. His account of a strange darkness during the crucifixion is notable, though he tried to explain it away as a natural eclipse. > [!quote] [[Schaff2017-cc|Julius Africanus]] > “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.”<p style='text-align: right;'>--- </p> ### 2. Tacitus: (55-117 A.D.) A respected Roman historian, Tacitus wrote _The Annals_, which includes a reference to “Christus” (Christ), who was executed under Pontius Pilate during Tiberius’s reign. He also describes Nero’s persecution of Christians. Tacitus was hostile toward Christianity, making his testimony valuable. > [!quote] [[Mellor2010-ja|Tacitus Annals]] > “Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of on of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the word find their center and become popular.” ### 3. Suetonius : (69-140 A.D.) Suetonius was a Roman historian and biographer of emperors. In his writings, he mentions disturbances among Jews in Rome “at the instigation of Chrestus,”. He also records Nero’s punishments against Christians. His testimony shows Christianity’s growing presence in Rome by the first century. > [!quote] [[Suetonius2014-zo|Suetonius: Life of Augustus]] > “Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from the city [Rome].” In another work Suetonius wrote this. > [!quote] [[Graves2007-sk|The Twelve Caesars]] > “Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” ### 4. The Letter of Mara Bar Serapion: (73 A.D.) Mara Bar Serapion was a Stoic philosopher writing to his son from prison. In his letter, he compares Jesus to other unjustly executed “wise men” like Socrates and Pythagoras, noting that the Jews’ rejection of their “wise king” led to the loss of their nation. He does not identify Jesus by name, but the reference is widely recognized. > [!quote] Mara Bar Serapion > “What benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as judgment for their crime. Or, the people of Samos for burning Pythagoras? In one moment their country was covered with sand. Or the Jews by murdering their wise king?…After that their kingdom was abolished. God rightly avenged these men…The wise king…Lived on in the teachings he enacted.” ### 5. Phlegon Of Tralles: (1st Century) A freedman of the Emperor Hadrian, Phlegon wrote a historical chronicle. His works (now lost) are cited by later Christian writers like Julius Africanus and Origen, mentioning an eclipse and earthquake during the reign of Tiberius—phenomena connected by Christians to the crucifixion. > [!quote] [[Schaff2017-cc|Julius Africanus]] > “During the time of Tiberius Caesar an eclipse of the sun occurred during the full moon.” ### 6. Celsus: (2nd Century) Celsus was a Greek philosopher and one of the earliest open critics of Christianity. His polemic, _The True Word_ (known through Origen’s rebuttal), portrays Jesus as the illegitimate son of a poor woman, who learned magical tricks in Egypt. Though hostile, Celsus acknowledges Jesus’s historical existence and miracles (albeit attributing them to sorcery). > [!quote] [[Schaff2017-mm|Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume IV.]] > “born in a certain Jewish village, of a poor woman of the country, who gained her subsistence by spinning, and who was turned out of doors by her husband, a carpenter by trade, because she was convicted of adultery; that after being driven away by her husband, and wandering about for a time, she disgracefully gave birth to Jesus, an illegitimate child, who having hired himself out as a servant in Egypt on account of his poverty, and having there acquired some miraculous powers, on which the Egyptians greatly pride themselves, returned to his own country, highly elated on account of them, and by means of these proclaimed himself a God.” ### 7. Pliny The Younger: (112 A.D.) Pliny, a Roman governor in Bithynia (Asia Minor), wrote to Emperor Trajan asking how to handle Christians. His letter describes Christians gathering before dawn, singing hymns “to Christ as to a god,” and binding themselves by ethical oaths. This provides valuable evidence of early Christian worship and belief in Christ’s divinity. > [!quote] [[The_Younger_Pliny2003-yh|The Letters of the Younger Pliny]] > “They (the Christians) were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sand in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to any wicked deeds, not to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor to deny any trust when they should be call to deliver it up, after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food "but food of an ordinary but and innocent kind.” ### 8. Lucius Annaeus Seneca: (120-180 A.D.) Lucian was a satirist who mocked Christians for worshiping a crucified man and living with unusual devotion. Though scornful, he confirms their strong belief in immortality, brotherhood, and their crucified leader. > [!quote] [[Stewart2019-ua|Lucian]] > "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day "the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account….You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property." ### 9. Hierocles Philalethes: (AD 284-305) A Roman governor and philosopher, Hierocles wrote against Christianity, accusing Jesus’s followers (like Peter and Paul) of inventing myths. His writings survive through Christian rebuttals, especially by Eusebius. His critique shows that Christianity had spread widely by this time, enough to draw hostile philosophical engagement. > [!quote] [[Eusebius_of_Caesarea2019-hq|Eusebius, (Against Hierocles)]] > “And this point is also worth noticing, that whereas the tales of Jesus have been vamped up by Peter and Paul and a few others of the kind,–men who were liars and devoid of education and wizards.” ### 10. Julian The Apostate: (332-363 A.D.) Julian, a Roman emperor and former Christian, renounced Christianity and sought to revive paganism. Known as “the Apostate,” he acknowledged Christ’s power indirectly, most famously with the dying words, “You have conquered, O Galilean.” Even an enemy emperor admitted the influence of Christ. > [!quote] [[Schaff2007-sk|Theodoret]] > “As he bled, the dying emperor groaned, “You have conquered, O Galilean,” [Referring to Jesus Christ.] ### 11. Macrobius: (4th-5th Century) Macrobius, a Roman writer, mentions a story where Augustus remarked it was “better to be Herod’s pig than his son,” in light of Herod killing his own family members. This indirectly connects to Herod’s slaughter of infants, aligning with the biblical narrative of Matthew 2. > [!quote] [[Macrobius2011-ne|Saturnalia, Volume I: Books 1-2]] > When it was heard that Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered boys in Syria under the age of two years to be put to death and that the kings son was among those killed, he said (the Emperor Augustus) remarked, "It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son" ### Babylonian Talmud: (Completed in the 6th Century A.D.) The Talmud, a central Jewish text, contains passages about “Yeshu” (Jesus). It records that he was executed at Passover for sorcery and leading Israel astray—admitting his miracle-working but dismissing it as sorcery. This reflects Jewish opposition to Christianity while still confirming Jesus’s existence and execution. > [!quote] [[Rodkinson2018-qf|The Babylonian Talmud]] > On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because He has practiced sorcery (an admission of his miracles) and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor let him come forward and plead on his behalf. But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the even of the Passover.” ### 13. Toldoth Yeshu: (6 Century) A later Jewish anti-Christian text, _Toldoth Yeshu_ retells Jesus’s life in a derogatory manner. Despite hostility, it mentions key events: his crucifixion, his claims to divinity, his miracles, and the empty tomb. > [!quote] [[Deutsch2014-gc|TOLEDOTH YESHU]] > This is a derogatory version of the life of Jesus, it Mentions the empty tomb and that the Jewish leaders found it empty. That Jesus was crucified on the eve of the Passover and that He claimed to be God. That Jesus performed sorcery, he healed, and that he taught Rabbis. ### 14. Josephus: (37 – 100 AD) The Jewish historian Josephus, in _Antiquities of the Jews_, refers to Jesus as a wise man crucified under Pilate, whose followers claimed he rose on the third day. > [!quote] [[Josephus2018-gw|The Antiquities of the Jews]] > At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders. And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day. The early secular references to Christ and Christianity, ranging from Roman historians like Tacitus and Pliny the Younger to criticisms from figures like Celsus and Lucian of Samosata, not only corroborate certain biblical events, such as the darkness at Christ's crucifixion and the nature of early Christian worship, but also offer insight into the societal and cultural reactions to the Christian movement. While some sources express skepticism or disdain towards Christians, others unwittingly validate the historical presence and impact of Jesus.